Middlemarch

CHAPITRE XVIII.

This chapter centers on the contentious vote to select a new salaried chaplain for the Middlemarch Infirmary, a decision pitting popular long-serving unpaid incumbent Mr. Farebrother against recommended candidate Mr. Tyke, and examines the social dynamics, personal biases, and consequences of the vote’s outcome.

Dr. Minchin’s Divided Esteem for Chaplain Candidates

Dr. Minchin expresses a divided esteem for the two chaplain candidates: he considers Mr. Tyke an exemplary man proposed for unimpeachable reasons, but gives preponderance to Mr. Farebrother’s stronger claims due to his longer tenure in the community, amiable nature, and skill as a preacher.

Larcher Criticizes Farebrother’s Clerical Fitness

Prominent local carrier Mr. Larcher criticizes Mr. Farebrother’s fitness for the chaplain role, arguing Farebrother is too lax for a clergyman and prioritizes minimal religious service over robust spiritual duty, while noting he holds no personal ill will toward Farebrother.

Hawley Defends Farebrother Against Excessive Piety

Mr. Frank Hawley defends Farebrother against criticisms of excessive piety, contending that overly frequent, methodical religious services are burdensome for sick infirmary patients and harmful to their well-being.

Arrival of Thesiger, Bulstrode, and Brooke

Three new attendees arrive for the chaplaincy vote: Reverend Edward Thesiger, Mr. Bulstrode, and Mr. Brooke, with only Mr. Lydgate still expected to join the meeting.

Thesiger Advocates for Tyke’s Chaplaincy

Reverend Thesiger advocates for Mr. Tyke’s appointment as chaplain, describing Tyke as a zealous, able candidate with manageable existing duties who will bring fervent spiritual purpose to the role, and warning against treating the paid chaplaincy as a mere salaried position rather than a spiritual appointment.

Brooke Publicly Supports Tyke’s Appointment

Mr. Brooke publicly supports Tyke’s chaplaincy appointment, stating his friends have convinced him a paid chaplain is a public good, and praising Tyke as unexceptionable, apostolic, and eloquent, though he admits he has not previously paid close attention to Infirmary affairs.

Hawley Challenges Biased Candidate Information

Mr. Hawley challenges the claim that Brooke has received balanced information about the candidates, noting Brooke appears unaware that Mr. Farebrother has served as unpaid chaplain for years and that Tyke is proposed to supersede him, and accuses Bulstrode of providing Brooke only with biased information from Tyke’s supporters.

Vote Called for Infirmary Chaplain

After a brief heated discussion, Mr. Hawley calls for an immediate vote on the chaplaincy appointment, with attendees writing their chosen candidate’s name on paper to submit in a glass tumbler.

Lydgate Casts Deciding Vote for Tyke

When votes are found to be tied, Mr. Lydgate is called to cast the deciding vote; despite implied expectations he will vote with Bulstrode for Tyke, Lydgate writes “Tyke” without hesitation, securing Tyke’s appointment as infirmary chaplain.

Lydgate Regrets Compromised Judgment

After the vote, Lydgate regrets his choice, uncertain if Tyke is truly the more suitable candidate, and recognizing his decision was compromised by indirect bias from his association with Bulstrode, leaving the outcome as a persistent sore point as an example of Middlemarch’s petty social pressures overriding his independent judgment.

Farebrother’s Graceful Response to Election Loss

Mr. Farebrother responds to his election loss with grace and consistent goodwill, maintaining his previous friendly relationship with Lydgate, and demonstrating an ability to judge others impartially even when they act against his interests, free of Pharisaic self-righteousness.

Farebrother Discusses Personal Resignation with Lydgate

Farebrother discusses his election loss with Lydgate, framing his defeat as a result of the world’s unfair pressures rather than personal failure, and reflecting on the difficulty of making moral choices when constrained by external circumstances, though he also acknowledges a tendency toward low expectations of personal success stemming from his own past failures, which Lydgate perceives as a pitiable infirmity of will.

CHAPITRE XIX.

During her wedding journey to Rome, Dorothea Casaubon (born Dorothea Brooke) becomes the object of artistic attention when the German painter Naumann discovers her unconsciously posing near the Cleopatra statue in the Vatican, admiring how her Quakerish gray dress and the gesture of her ungloved hand pillowing her cheek create what he sees as a perfect “bit of antithesis” between antique and living beauty. Will Ladislaw, Mr. Casaubon’s second cousin who has only met Dorothea briefly before her marriage, recognizes her and becomes conflicted, engaging Naumann in a philosophical debate about the inadequacy of painting versus language in capturing the living essence of beauty, revealing his growing emotional response to her despite his attempts to dismiss it.